Bitcoin slumps to lowest in a month after Russia invades Ukraine

Bitcoin fell as much as 7.9% to $34,324, its lowest since Jan. 24, and was last trading down 4.9%. Smaller coins that typically move in tandem with bitcoin also fell, with ether losing as much as 10.8%.

MOSCOW/KYIV, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Russia launched an all-out invasion of Ukraine by land, air and sea on Thursday, the biggest attack by one state against another in Europe since World War Two and confirmation of the worst fears of the West.

Russian missiles rained down on Ukrainian cities. Ukraine reported columns of troops pouring across its borders into the eastern Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Luhansk regions, and landing by sea at the cities of Odessa and Mariupol in the south.

Explosions could be heard before dawn in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. Gunfire rattled out near the main airport and sirens blared across the city.

A resident of Ukraine's second largest city Kharkiv, the closest big city to the Russian border, said windows in apartment blocks were shaking from constant blasts. The city was gripped by panic as people tried to flee, said the resident, who asked not to be identified.

Ukraine's President Volodymur Zelenskiy said Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin's aim was to destroy his state.

"Putin has just launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Peaceful Ukrainian cities are under strikes," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Twitter.

"This is a war of aggression. Ukraine will defend itself and will win. The world can and must stop Putin. The time to act is now."

At least eight people had been killed and nine were wounded by the Russian shelling, an advisor to the Ukrainian Minister of Internal Affairs said.

Putin declared in a televised address that he had ordered "a special military operation" to protect people, including Russian citizens who had been subjected to "genocide" in Ukraine, an accusation the West has long described as absurd propaganda.